Abortion limit to be set at 23 weeks

Tens of thousands of pro-life campaigners hit the streets in Dublin yesterday

BRYAN MEADE

Stephen O’Brien, Political Editor

Sunday March 11 2018, 12.01am, The Sunday Times

Guidelines to be introduced if the eighth amendment of the constitution is repealed would aim to maximise a baby’s chances of survival after 23 weeks of gestation, in cases when a mother’s health is at risk, Irish government sources say. These babies would be delivered by caesarean section or induced labour.

The guidelines are expected to be drawn up by the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (IOG) for the Irish Medical Council. They would mean intensive-care paediatric teams would be required to attend induced or caesarean births in such cases, to improve the baby’s chances.

Peter Boylan, chairman of the IOG, has confirmed the Medical Council would be expected to draw up guidelines to raise a baby’s prospects of survival when labour was induced for